


Small Bites

by SheWhoWalksUnseen



Series: ColdWestAllen Week 2018 [4]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Baking, Birthday Fluff, ColdWestAllen Week 2018, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-20 16:27:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14897999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SheWhoWalksUnseen/pseuds/SheWhoWalksUnseen
Summary: “We’ve taken down metahumans and changed time and cheated fate. If Captain Cold can’t handle having a happy birthday, that’s on him. We’re going to at least finish frosting these cupcakes, though, because they smell delicious and I’m starving.”





	Small Bites

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so late getting to all of these because I was on a train (and I was already out of the country on vacation with family so it's not like I could set aside a day to hash these out), but here's Day 4 of ColdWestAllen Week aka "Food". I may or may not have been inspired by the fact that a certain actor (and character) had a birthday.

“You’re awfully quiet today,” Iris teased, wrapping her arms around his waist. Barry paused with the tray of cupcakes he’d just pulled out of the oven in hand. “Thought you’d be more excited. You love decorating.” 

“I am.”

Iris raised an eyebrow and set her chin on his shoulder. “Uh huh. That why you’ve only spoken three times since you got home from work? And one of those times was to say ‘hi’ when I opened the door?”

Barry sighed. He set the tray down on the counter, pleased to see that the cupcakes weren’t burnt like last time. Baking really wasn’t his area of expertise.

“I am excited,” he insisted. “Really. I’m just... I don’t know. Do you think he’ll like it?”

Her features softened, any tease left on her lips dying in the face of his uncertainty. She tightened her hold on his waist as he turned to meet her eyes.

“Babe, of course. Even criminals have a sweet tooth.”

“I know,” he said. “We were both there when he finished off the rest of the ice cream in our freezer.” Which had been rather impressive, though not quite surprising coming from someone who went by _Captain Cold_.

Iris snorted. “True. Which reminds me, we still have to run to the store for more. I think he ate the last carton of mint chocolate chip we had.”

“ _Again_?”

“I think we’re going to need to hold an intervention if he keeps this up.”

Barry tried to picture him and Iris cornering Len when he came home, eyes wide like a deer caught in the headlights as they lectured him on his daily consumption of ice cream. He had to suppress his own snort at the thought.

“But that’s not the point,” Iris continued, bringing the conversation back on-track and pulling Barry out of tempting thoughts of ice cream (he’d been baking for hours now trying to get these damn cupcakes right, he was hungry, okay?). “The point is, Len will appreciate the thought no matter what. I know he said he hates his birthday but you saw that look in his eyes when he was talking about it, right?”

He had. It’d been a week or so ago when Barry had brought up the conversation late after they had gotten under the covers and the tense line of Len’s back was the first thing he noticed. The hard stare he reserved only for his father and those he truly disliked had emerged little by little the more they’d weaseled the story out of him, Iris twining her fingers with Len’s as he mentioned the beatings from his father on his first birthday after his mother died with a casual tone. Barry’s heart seized just remembering the glimpse of pain behind his eyes, the way he had insisted that it was fine and he didn’t need a big celebration like the two were undoubtably planning.

Barry thought back to his own birthdays as a child, all spent with his mother and father and friends from school in the backyard, blowing out candles on his cake on a table they’d set up and laughing when his father tried to “sneak” a taste of the cake before serving it to the other kids. The only remotely sad birthdays he could remember were the first two or three years after his mother’s murder when he was stuck with Joe and Iris in the house, attempting a brave smile as he wished he could run to Iron Heights and visit his dad instead. Anything would’ve been better than spending it alone with two thin smiles staring back at him, even if they came from a man he would grow to think of as a second father and a girl he’d dream forever of being able to marry.

Barry couldn’t stand the thought of not being able to have any happy birthdays at all. Not for the first time, he found himself wishing Lewis was alive solely so he could give the man a piece of his mind.

Still, Len was the last person to admit when he genuinely wanted something. He was a thief - if there was something precious in a museum or a nearby jewelry store, all he had to do was rob it and it was his.

A decent birthday surrounded by people he cared about (even if he wasn’t ready to say so out loud)? Len would dance around the subject faster than Cisco could come up with a new name for the meta of the week.

“Hey, look at me.” Barry met Iris’ eyes, resting his forehead against hers as she smiled up at him. “We’ve taken down metahumans and changed time and cheated fate. If  _Captain Cold_  can’t handle having a happy birthday, that’s on him. We’re going to at least finish frosting these cupcakes, though, because they smell  _delicious_  and I’m starving.”

Barry laughed and gave her a quick peck on the lips. God, how had he gotten so lucky to be able to come home to her and Len? “Alright, alright. We’ve got to let them cool for a little bit, but I think we’ve got the time to wait.”

As if on cue, the sound of the lock turning and the door opening echoed through the loft.

Iris and Barry froze for a split-second, listening to the door shut and Len exhale, clearly exhausted.

Then they started hissing to each other at once:

“I thought he was coming back at five?!”

“He must have finished early, I don’t know how long criminal interrogations last!”

“Shit, the cupcakes!”

“Should I stall him?”

“Yes! Ask him about his day or kiss him or something, I don’t know!”

“Really, Barr?”

“I can get this done in less than two seconds, just stall him!”

“For two people who claim to be part of the best superhero team in Central City,” Len drawled, causing their heads to whip toward the kitchen doorframe he was leaning against, a smirk tugging at his mouth, “you are terrible at whispering. And planning surprise parties.”

Barry turned red and opened his mouth but Iris beat him to it with narrowed eyes. “Was it Lisa? We only told her in case she wanted to come.”

Len’s smirk grew. “No, although she did hint over the phone that I ought to thank my ‘well-meaning’ partners for their efforts today, which didn’t help your case.”

“Cisco, then?” Iris asked. 

“Just because the man has my number doesn’t mean we text. Though I did receive quite a few gleeful texts from Mick today.”

Barry groaned. “I knew I shouldn’t have called him ask for advice about the frosting.” Iris patted his arm sympathetically.

“In all fairness, Mick has a big mouth when it comes to food,” Len told them. His eyes darted to the slowly cooling cupcakes. “Especially since I think he’s always wanted to be the one to make me a birthday cake.”

Ah. That explained the annoyance in Mick’s voice over the call. Barry had just thought he was really aggressive about vanilla frosting.

“Technically,” Iris said, taking a step out of Barry’s embrace toward Len, “these are  _cupcakes_  and not a  _cake_ , so he still can? He did mention some good ideas for future birthday cakes.”

Len rolled his eyes but his exasperation was ruined by his persisting smirk. Something close to fondness crept onto his features. “Of course he did.”

“Well, I don’t know about you but,” Barry pointed at the cupcakes, “if we don’t start frosting these in the next ten minutes, I’m going to wind up eating all of them and there’ll be none left.”

There was a flicker of hesitance behind his eyes, but the usual sneer or cold look that was saved for Captain Cold occasions didn’t emerge. Instead, Len’s smirk softened and Barry could see the relief in the way Iris’ shoulders slumped. “I suppose we wouldn’t want that.”

“Perfect.” Barry flashed over to the counter with the piping bags Iris had set up and laid them in front of the cupcake tray with a wide grin. “Now, which color do you wanna start with: blue or white?”

**Author's Note:**

> Come scream with me on my DCTV Tumblr @areyouscarletcold. Comments are always appreciated, and have a great day!


End file.
